Big crash provides wild ride’ at Speedbowl

Marc Allard

Monday

Apr 30, 2012 at 12:01 AMApr 30, 2012 at 7:11 PM

Going three-wide may be exciting, but it can also be dangerous. Franklin Street Stock driver Josh Galvin found that out Saturday night on the ninth lap of the 25-lap feature at the Waterford Speedbowl.

Going three-wide may be exciting, but it can also be dangerous.

Franklin Street Stock driver Josh Galvin found that out Saturday night on the ninth lap of the 25-lap feature at the Waterford Speedbowl.

Galvin was content to race two-wide for the first several laps of the race while “waiting for things to shake out and everyone to settle in,” but then saw an opportunity to make a run on last week’s winner, Ray Downing Jr. Downing, in the No. 99 car, had few places to go because Phil Evans’ No. 12 car making a move on the other side.

As a result, Galvin got “pinched” down low. Galvin didn’t think much of it at first, but his car began to go sideways, and was pointed toward the wall on the backstretch. Galvin’s No. 18 car streaked across the front of the two other Street Stocks and hit the wall. What followed was one of the wildest rides of Galvin’s racing career.

“I couldn’t tell if I was on my side or upside-down. It was weird because I saw sparks coming from the roof and I couldn’t tell if it was coming from the road or the wall,” Galvin said.

Actually, there was a little of both. Galvin’s car flipped onto its roof and then flipped onto its side again with the driver’s side scraping the road as it went. Galvin’s seat, meanwhile, had shifted toward the middle of the car.

“When I slowed down, I saw the window net on the ground and I could hear guys yelling for me to get out of the car as fast as I could,” Galvin said.

It was easy for Galvin to see what the commotion was about. He saw sparks and quickly unhitched himself from his belts, which caused him to fall to the ground.

“I just tried to stand up and find the hole, and as soon as I popped my head out the window of the passenger’s side, the official was there to drag me out of there,” Galvin said.

Galvin was immediately transferred to the ambulance where it was determined he was OK, just a little shaken up. The ambulance dropped him off at his pit just in time to see his car arrive, minus a lot of paint on both sides.

“It was a pretty wild ride. I’m still trying to remember it, really, but it seemed like forever,” Galvin said.

They ran into one another at the hot chocolate stand at the Speedbowl on Saturday night and the 72-year-old Ceravolo asked Eames to stick around for a moment.

“He said, ‘Wait, I have to tell you something’ and when he first told me, I was waiting for the punchline, but he’s serious,” Eames said.

Ceravolo told Eames he was getting back into racing and was planning to run an SK Light Modified next weekend at the Speedbowl.

On Saturday night, there was no telling if Ceravolo will climb back into a car at Waterford, where he was an SK Modified champion in the 1980s. He would become the oldest man ever to compete at the 62-year-old track.

“There’s no real reason why a 72-year-old guy who’s in the kind of shape that (Ceravolo) is can’t drive a race car,” Eames said. “I don’t know if he will be a championship contender, but the guy has surprised me a bunch of times before, and if anyone can do it, Dickie Ceravolo can do it.”

According to Eames, Ceravolo said if he’s successful in the SK Lights, don’t be shocked to see the Gales Ferry resident back in an SK Modified before the season ends.

Dick’s son, Todd Ceravolo, is an off-and-on driver at the Speedbowl who calls Thompson Speedway home. Dick Ceravolo’s soon-to-be grandson-in-law is Wallingford driver Keith Rocco, who is running in the Whelen Modified Tour as well at Thompson, Waterford and the Stafford Speedway and is a former Whelen All-American series national champion.

“Having Dickie in a car out here would be huge,” Eames said.

Another win

The No. 11 Mini-Stock has been kind to Ken Cassidy Jr. this season, so when an altercation began to develop in front of him coming out of turn four Saturday night, he knew he had no choice but to drive into the infield, even if it meant going to the back.

“I just went into the infield because everybody was getting balled up and I didn’t want to hit anything. The car has been too good to start destroying it,” Cassidy said.

The incident occurred on the seventh lap, which left Cassidy just 18 more to work his way through the field, something he finally accomplished on the next-to-last lap. He then faced an all-out battle with Jeff Cembruch.

“I knew we were catching him, but I thought we were going to run out of time,” Cassidy said. “I saw the popsicle sticks (indicating two laps to go) and he was still about a car (length) and a half ... in front of me and I said, ‘Man, we really have to go,’ so I dove it in there and it stuck. The guy’s an awesome guy to race with. He never pushed me up.”

Cassidy made the high line work for him. He stayed outside of Cembruch and beat him by 0.58 seconds for his fourth win in five races.

Ready for Wednesday

The Speedbowl’s lights will be on two nights a week beginning Wednesday with the return of the Wild-and-Wacky Wednesday night programs.

“I think it’s going to be a great year, a great year for everybody,” East Lyme driver Scott Limkemann said after he won for a second time in the X-Car Saturday Showdown series.

Limkemann said the two wins and a second-place finish in the Saturday series have been nice, but his real focus is winning a Wednesday series championship. Plus, being able to race on Wednesday provides a nice interlude in the work week.

“I work 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., 11-hour days, all week, and you can go out there and relieve so much stress on Wednesday night. It’s perfect,” Limkemann said. “I love the fans who come out on Wednesday night. It’s a cheap night. Everyone comes with their kids, and it’s just a blast.”

Limkemann said there are “no real rivals” in the pits, other than in the Legends Division.

“We’re all best buds out there, we treat each other with respect, that’s why we have a lot of green-white-checkereds (finishes),” Limkemann said. “We all don’t have that much money, that’s why we run X-cars. We’re here to have fun, but also not smash everyone.”

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.